Life of a Little Red Porcupine
by Flaky Ciel
Summary: And of a little green bear too. She wants so badly to have her old life back, but might need some help making her new one better for her. But even after that, she could use some help keeping it that way.
1. Chapter 1

Life of a Little Red Porcupine Ch. 1

By Flaky Ciel

(Notes: This is an HTF story, so there's gonna be some violence and temporary death and such, and anyone who's familiar with the series shouldn't be at all surprised by it. Also, I don't own HTF or any part of it, Mondo Media does.)

--------------------------------------------------------

The little red porcupine raised her hand up to her friend. "W-wait, Cuddles! You're not s-supposed to go in there!" Flaky yelled, timidly.

"Oh come on. Don't be such a wuss." Cuddles, the yellow rabbit, returned. He really wanted to check what was on the other side of the fence with the "Do not trespass" sign on it.

"B-But Cuddles…" Flaky protested. The rabbit scoffed and opened the gate. It was only moments later when a gigantic dog had his maw around the rabbit's head, thrashing him and sending bits of gore in every direction. Flaky screamed and backed away slowly as a giant splash of Cuddles's blood landed on her. After it hacked out his mauled remains, it gave chase to her. She ran, flailing, until the dog's chain stopped it dead.

It really must've been her lucky day. Ordinarily she would have been killed too, she thought. She fell on her seat, panting. She was horrified seeing her best of friends being torn apart like that, but he'd be back in a day or two. A week tops. That's how it always was around Happy Tree Forest. She picked herself up and gingerly started back on her way to her lonely house. She hated living there; it was like a living nightmare.

Sure, most of the people were nice, and she loved being with her friends, but she would rather have lived somewhere else, like she used to. Happy Tree Forest was like a living hell for everyone, and no one knew why. Everyone who lived in the area was cursed with extreme misfortune, which usually took the form of death, dismemberment, mauling, and other painful events. But every time someone died, or was maimed, they'd come back good as new in just a few days.

Flaky always wondered how it was possible, and what was responsible. She'd died plenty of times since she moved there, and every time she woke up at Happy Tree Hospital as if nothing happened. Only death was cured like that though, and the first few moments of "rebirth" were really painful too, since their sense of touch kind of "lagged" a few moments when they woke up. It was all so mysterious to everyone. Flaky figured it had to do something with those horrible little Idols that the people sometimes found, since whenever one of those showed up it made everything even worse. If it wasn't the idols, maybe it was whoever made them. They had to come from somewhere. Flaky sighed.

She looked down the street to see Giggles and Petunia playing jump rope. Flaky looked away. It was like she was the only one who dreaded all of the painful events all the time. It was like everyone else just learned to expect it and got along and played just like they had no cares in the world. That changed when they were faced with some of these events, but still. Flaky really tried to have fun and all, but it was hard. She walked up the stone steps to her house, and gingerly stepped inside the stump-shaped building.

She flopped down on her bed, which was always getting less comfy due to all the quill-puncture marks and the flakes of dandruff that accumulated. She had to clean it up pretty soon. She grabbed her teddy and hugged it, curling up and trying to just sleep her lucky day away. She was always so scared. Nothing was ever safe in this place. All of her house was covered in foam padding, soft plastic covers, and every other safety precaution that she could ever think to take. She hugged her teddy tighter. It wasn't always like this…

She used to live with her parents in another place, just over three years ago. She looked the same as she did then, since in Happy Tree Forest age seemed to stop once you got there. In fact, Cub, a baby bear, had been a toddler for several years. At least he had his Dad to keep him safe. Well, Pop did kind of have a tendency to kill his son, but his intentions were always kind. Suddenly she heard a knock at her door. "Flaky!" Petunia, the sweet-smelling skunk, called. "Flaky we're gonna play! You wanna come out?"

"B-be right there!" Flaky called. She squeezed her bear one last time before putting it down and cracking the door open a little bit. "Wh-what are we playing?"

"We're gonna go down to the park and pick a game. C'mon, Flaky!" Giggles the chipmunk called behind her friend. Flaky nodded opened the door the rest of the way. She thought it was kind of funny how little importance age was around there. She was only 15 (though she was still physically 12, and mentally was probably even younger) yet had all the responsibilities of an adult, a lot of times. So did her friends, generally no matter how old they were. They just kind of filled out the jobs that were needed, especially Lumpy, a dim-witted moose.

Flaky cautiously followed her friends. They were so cheerful, but they both still had family to run to when they were scared, or even hurt very badly. Flaky sighed and remembered the last time she actually felt safe. It was with her mom and dad before she moved there. They said that they got a good deal on a house in Happy Tree Forest, and were planning on driving there. Flaky wasn't actually flaky back then, she had her mom to help her get shampoo and stuff in her quills, which was really hard when your arms are so short and your hair's so pointy. She was also cheerful back then, and adventurous to a fault almost. She was simply a happy, bubbly little porcupine girl. "Hey girls! And Flaky!" A purple beaver named Toothy called out.

Flaky snapped to and blushed. People were always mistaking her for a guy, but Toothy was just teasing. Everyone had set up a small baseball field, and were getting ready to play. Flippy, a military-dressed green bear, was up to bat, and Toothy tossed a glove to Flaky. "You can take outfield if you want." He told her. She laughed shyly and scampered into the outfield. She still couldn't help but think of her old way of life…

She remembered how life used to be, back in the world away from this world of hell. It was a lot like Happy Tree Town, only less dangerous and scary. No vicious wild animals, evil killer amusement parks, freak accidents that break physics. It was the life. A large crack signified that Flippy had hit the ball. "I got it!" Handy shouted. The beaver lifted his handless stubs in the air, before flailing them around and shooting a glance of pure frustration. The ball hit him square in the eye, wedging into the poor guy's socket. Flaky cringed, but Handy was still alive somehow and staggered behind the bathrooms, where he collapsed. Flippy sighed, guiltily, before sitting back down since Handy HAD technically caught the ball.

"Don't worry." Lumpy told him, before getting ready to take bat. Nutty the hyperactive green squirrel pitched well, and Lumpy swung well, only he let go of the bat by mistake, sending into an onslaught of equipment. An automatic pitcher started firing balls into Russel, who took several to the head and chest before choking one last "Yar…". Giggles grabbed the machine, aiming it away from everyone. Baseballs clattered against the metal wall of the storage room like machine-gun fire, and it was too late before Giggles figured out that the machine was much less of a hazard than their unstable friend, Flippy.

The green bear's eyes twitched until they took on a ghastly green color. He smiled deviously and his now-deeper voice let out a sinister "DIE!!!". He swung a bat at Lumpy's head hard enough to send the moose's cranium soaring over the field. Flaky slowly looked back down, her face going white. Flippy stabbed his headless body with a bowie knife for good measure before running to the screaming porcupine. He ran past her, seemingly ignoring her. She liked him, but he really scared her when he "flipped out" due to something reminding him of the war he fought in…

She did let out a sigh of relief though, being still alive. But suddenly a spurt of blood sprang out of her neck. She screamed and cried loudly, realizing he slashed her jugular on the pass-by. She tried to stop the blood flow as best she could, but she kept bleeding until she started feeling woozy. She couldn't run either, since he hamstringed her when she wasn't looking. She just stood there, wobbly, until another baseball crashed into her head, giving her a black eye and knocking her out. It was there she had another vivid flashback…

On the drive over to Happy Tree Forest they got in a car crash. No one was hurt, at first. Her mom and dad got her out of the car and made sure everyone was alright. The other driver didn't make it, though, and he had hit them head-on. They were lucky to be alive, let alone in perfect health. Her parents comforted her and told her it was going to be alright, like they always did. And she was still happy, despite the scary event. But then another car got involved. It side-swiped the wreckage, right into her parents. They all tried to move out of the way, but only Flaky was short enough to dodge the car which barely passed over her head.

She crawled out from underneath the wreckage and looked up at the driver, crying. He had died in the crash, or was at least knocked out. But her parents were pinned to their own car by the front of his. They had been cut nearly in half, and with their last ounces of life tried to tell their daughter it was going to be okay. Flaky panicked and cried for almost an hour before running away, following the road to Happy Tree Forest. When she finally got there, she was all alone, with no one to tell her it was okay… She didn't even have a place to live, only her stuffed bear.

It didn't take her long to figure out the town's nature though. Not only that, but she found out that once she was there she couldn't leave either. Happy Tree Forest and the areas surrounding it literally all melted into the same world, away from the one she lived in before. It was the same, yet so much different and so much more dangerous. And her parents hadn't made it there, and they would never come back… So she lived by herself for almost a month. And it was after this month when she met her first and best friend, Cuddles.

She was just shivering and shaking in one of the town's alleys, traumatized, when the fluffy yellow bunny passed her by. He noticed her and the fact that her eyes were about the size of dinner plates. "You okay..?" He asked, sympathetically. She shook her head, trembling. Of course she wasn't. She had just lost her parents and in the month she'd been there she'd already been beaten, burned, crushed, stabbed, raped, and impaled. She'd become so timid, frightful, paranoid, and, worst of all, alone.

"I'm scared…" She whimpered. Cuddles came over and put his arm around her, poking himself a little with her spines.

"I'm sorry…" He said, pulling a few pins out of his arm. "I'm Cuddles. What's your name? Flaky?"

"Flaky?" She asked. Cuddles pulled off one of the large flakes of dandruff falling off of her quills. "Oh…" She blushed. Her real name was Ruby, but Cuddles interrupted her before she could say anything.

"C'mon, Flaky. Let's see if we can't find a place for you to live." Cuddles said. And it wasn't long before he got Lumpy, the realtor at the time, to get her into the house her parents had bought. The house where she had lived for the past three years… alone… Sure she had her friends, and they were almost always nice to her, but they were always doing things that scared her. She always felt so outcast, and when they weren't around she felt maddeningly lonely.

Flaky woozily opened her eyes, or rather opened one and half-opened the other. She was in the hospital, apparently she survived her wounds. She smiled weakly, thinking that maybe this really was her lucky day. She looked over and saw Flippy next to her bed, looking worried. "Flip…?" She asked. He looked up, and smiled.

"Hey, Flaky…" He said, "I heard I 'flipped out' again… I'm sorry I hurt you, I just wanted to say that. I woke up and took you here. You were the only survivor, heh…" He said, weakly. She only smiled back at him, woozily. He didn't look it, but he was probably in his mid 20's. But he was a sweet guy, and got along great with his younger friends just fine. He fit right in with them anyway. No one's ever sure how old everyone else is anyway. He fidgeted, remembering something. "Oh, I brought you this." He said, pressing her teddy bear into her arms.

She smiled and hugged it, weak from blood-loss. "Th-thanks, Flippy…" She said, cuddling it. He smiled, slightly relieved. He really hated his alternate self. The person eating inside him was the result of war, a personality he made in order to survive, a personality that was a brutal killing machine. But now that the war's over, he can't get rid of it. It caused so much trouble and pain. Especially to poor people like Flaky, who already had it rough. He always felt so bad for her, always so scared and always being hurt.

"Well, the doc says you should be okay." Flippy told her, patting her on the shoulder. She nodded, a bit content. She sniffled a bit. "Are you going to be okay, Flaky?" She nodded weakly. She thought for another moment about her happier life, and finally couldn't take it anymore. She'd been thinking about it all day. She burst into tears, wailing, causing Flippy to literally tumble backwards in his seat. He jumped up and hugged her, carefully moving his arms between her spines, which surprisingly weren't as sharp and pointy as he thought they were.

"There there, it's going to be okay…" He said. Her tears settled down to a dull sniffle. She looked up at him with big watery eyes. "It'll be okay, okay? Soon you'll be out, and you can go home." He smiled.

"Yeah…" She said. After all, it was the safest place for her. But she couldn't stop thinking about her parents. "I miss my mommy and daddy…" She choked. He patted her on the back and thought for a moment, looking around as if trying to spot an answer. He realized that she must be really lonely, living by herself. He was lonely too. Ever since he got back from the war and moved to Happy Tree Town he had been all alone, except for his "other self". Plus, he thought he should do something nice for the little porcupine.

"Say, Flaky…" he started. "Would… would you like to come live with me? You know, at least until your legs heal up."

"R-Really?" She asked. He smiled and nodded. She smiled. Despite the fact that this was a man who, on several occasions, horribly killed her during a berserk rampage, she felt… somehow safe with his normal self. He was a really kind-hearted and strong guy, as long as she didn't make him go nuts. "I-I-I'd like that…" She said, timidly but happily. He smiled and hugged her again. It was the next night when he carried her to his house.

His home was filled with dangerous stuff, which made Flaky shrink down a little bit in his arms. He couldn't help but chuckle. "Don't worry, I'll take care of all the stuff that could hurt you." He said. He'd leave a few weapons around though, just in case she had to defend herself from him. Or if he flipped out it'd make her death quicker. She smiled in return, though.

"H-how long can I stay here..?" She asked.

"As long as you like." He told her. She was still wearing her white hospital shirt, and her legs were still bandaged up, and she still looked exhausted from blood-loss. He found his room and set her down in bed. "You can rest up. I'll just take the couch, okay?" He said, glad that he could help her. He saluted happily before turning off the lights. Flaky whimpered, though, afraid of the dark.

"F-F-Flippy?" She called. He came back in and turned on the light.

"Oh, the dark. That's right… I'm sorry, Flaky. Do you want me to leave it on?"

"D-Don't leave me alone…" She pleaded, tearing up. Flippy smiled, sympathetically.

"Alright, I won't." He said, hitting the lights again and hopping in bed next to her. She instantly huddled next to him, seeking comfort and clinging to her teddy. She shook for a few seconds before calming down. She almost sighed in relief. It was like… having a parent again, she thought. She snuggled against Flippy just like the little girl she was three years ago. Finally, she felt safe again, for the first time in three years.


	2. Chapter 2

Life of a Little Red Porcupine Ch. 2

By Flaky Ciel

(Notes: I hope I'm doing well on the story. I really appreciate the input too, thanks guys!)

--------------------------------------------------------

Flaky rubbed her eyes awake, having slept well for the first time since she could ever remember. She yawned and sat up, wincing at the pain still in her legs, which were still cut pretty badly. She laid back down before she realized Flippy was gone. "F-F-Flippy!?" She cried, panicking a little. The door instantly opened, revealing a slightly startled Flippy. He nudged it open with his elbow since he was carrying a tray in his hands.

"Don't worry, I'm here. I was about to wake you up for breakfast, but you beat me to it." Flippy said. Flaky let out her usual nervous laugh, a little embarrassed from freaking out like that. Flippy chuckled a little in response. He set the tray down in front of her, which was carrying a big plate of pancakes and a glass of orange juice.

"Awww… Thanks, Flippy…" Flaky said. "B-but, you didn't have to get me breakfast like this…"

"What? It's not like you can walk to the kitchen." Flippy joked. "Besides, I don't mind at all. I hardly ever have company like this." Flaky nodded shyly and started picking at her food. "Don't worry about anything, Flaky. Just relax and rest up. Okay?" She nodded again, and Flippy left do work elsewhere around his house. She kept eating happily, seeing as how that was the first meal other than hospital food she'd had in a few days.

When she finished she set the tray aside and snuggled back into bed. Despite her physical condition she was actually pretty comfortable. Normally she would have had to take care of herself, injuries or not. She really liked Flippy, and appreciated him for what he was doing for her. He was just such a sweet guy. Flippy himself loved taking care of someone too. He spent so much of his time hurting others, willfully or not, that it felt great doing something nice for someone like that. Especially someone as sweet as Flaky.

A few more days passed, and Flaky's legs and other injuries healed up pretty nicely. The curse over Happy Tree Forest accelerated healing too. It set up more opportunities to get hurt later, Flaky guessed. Regardless, Flaky was all healed up, which they discovered when Flippy was changing her bandages. "Do your legs still hurt?" He asked.

"Nu-uh. I think I'm all okay now…" Flaky answered. They both sat there, silent for a few moments before Flaky continued, "Well… I-I guess it's time for me to go home now…"

"Oh, you don't have to. You can stay here as long as you want to." Flippy responded, quickly.

Flaky shook her head, "No, that's okay. I'll get out of your hair now." She smiled.

"Well, just remember that if you want to stay it's really no trouble…" He said. He hadn't "flipped out" in days, and was enjoying the company. But Flaky insisted. She walked up and gave him a big hug.

"Thanks for taking care of me…" Flaky said. Flippy blushed a bit and hugged her back.

"Of course. Just take care of yourself." He told her. She smiled and nodded, and then waved goodbye before setting off towards her home.

She opened up her door cautiously, finding her house practically untouched. She sighed in relief. Shifty and Lifty hadn't been there. She started cleaning up her bed, being in a much better mood. Yet she still missed Flippy's company already. She started vacuuming up all of the large flakes of dandruff and threw some new sheets on, putting the ones full of holes in the trash. She needed a new mattress soon too, she thought. She put her bear on her bed, and let out a small sigh.

Suddenly she got a knock at her door, and she cracked it open and peeked out. "Hi, Flaky!" Cuddles said, recovered completely as well.

"Oh, hi C-Cuddles." She returned, opening the door all the way. Cuddles had a snowboard in his hands and another on his back.

"I'm glad to see you're all better!" He said, loudly but cheerfully. He shoved a snowboard into Flaky's hands. "We're going up to the mountain for some snow-boarding today!"

She looked around, nervously, memories of her last ski trip flooding back. "I-I dunno…" She stammered. "I just g-got out of the hospital and-"

"C'mon, Flaky!" Cuddles half-begged. "You're not gonna have any fun inside by yourself."

"W-well…" She started, but Cuddles grabbed her hand and started running off with her in tow.

"Great!" He exclaimed.

After getting her gear, Flaky looked around, nervously. Practically everyone was up on the snowy mountain that day. Flaky's sense of confidence and security she got from her stay with Flippy was already practically gone. "Cuddles… I'm not so sure…" She said.

"Flaky, you can't be so scared all the time. Around here bad things are gonna happen, so you might as well have fun in between, right?" He said, optimistically. Flaky only looked down and moved the snow around with her boot. "C'mon, let's get over to the lift area. Everyone's already over there." He added before running off, expecting Flaky to follow him.

"Well…" She started, before seeing a board with a nail in it. She instantly jumped backwards, remembering how she slid down hill and tore up both her feet on a similar plank last time. "Wait for me!" She yelled, scampering up to Cuddle's side.

The two friends got up to the lift area safely, Cuddles deciding to socialize before actually starting. Flaky breathed a sigh of relief and sat on a log to wait for the inevitable trip up the slope. She slid backwards a bit and wobbled before tumbling onto her back, ungracefully. She opened her eyes lying down in the snow to find the face of a green bear staring back down at her. "Hey, Flaky!" Flippy said, happily. "I didn't expect to see you up here."

"W-well, Cuddles convinced me to c-come up here with him…" She admitted, blushing, as Flippy helped her to her feet. He smiled and helped her brush the snow off.

"Just be careful out there. I don't want you getting hurt again or anything." He said. They both laughed a little awkwardly. "Well, see you at the top!" Flippy said, hesitantly walking backwards up the hill and catching a lift up. Flaky kept watching him for a few moments before blushing and looking away.

"Okay, ready to go up, Flaky?" Cuddles asked, his craving for attention sated. She nodded hesitantly before he shoved her up to the lift, which they rode all the way up to the top. She looked down to the ground below the moving chair before shrieking and clinging to Cuddles with a death grip.

"Okay, I'm ready to go back home now!" She yelled. Cuddles gently shoved her off of him.

"Relax!" He told her. She continued to shake, scared, until they finally hit the top. It wasn't as high as the last mountain she was on, but it was still scary for her. Cuddles strapped on his board and said, "Race to the bottom!" Before sliding off. Flaky wasn't really into the competition though, and just stared down the slope and clinging to her board.

"Ohhh…" She whined, scared. She thought about boarding down, but changed her mind at the last second. She turned around to find a different way down, and was about to ask Lumpy who had just arrived behind her for help, but he suddenly turned sharply and smacked her with his snowboard. She tumbled backwards, landing belly-down on her snowboard and sliding downhill fast. She screamed as she started gaining speed, miraculously avoiding every tree in her way.

She clung to her board for dear life and shrieked horribly when she suddenly caught air, flying off of a snowbank. She closed her eyes and clenched her teeth, ready for an eminent impact. But she landed safely and after a few moments she opened one eye and breathed a sigh of relief. It didn't last long though when she hit a rock and her board stopped flat, sending her flying off by herself. She screamed and collided with a tree, stopping her immediately. She groaned in agony when she peeled off the trunk and flopped onto the ground, stumbling to her feet. But Flaky's dizziness made her trip and fall, rolling downhill further.

Her world started blurring as she fell off the recommended path and onto a steep, rock-littered incline. She bounced off the jagged surfaces, leaving a trail of blood in her wake before she finally crashed into another tree and rolled to a stop, with her back against a stump. Her eyes kept spinning in her head, which had a moderate crack in it from the concussion, as well as several other broken bones and bruises. She started crying, starting to become delirious from pain, cold, and head trauma. She knew she just should have stayed home. She had just recovered from her last injury, so she was beating herself up for letting Cuddles drag her up the mountain again.

She could hardly move so she just buried her face in her hands, trying to stay conscious. "Are you okay..?" Called a voice from in front of her. She looked up and in her blurring vision she saw the image of none other than her mother.

"M-mommy…?" She asked, her eyes swelling with tears. The blurry image of her mother got closer and looked to her left, and then back down.

"Yes, sweetie, it's me…" She said, kneeling next to her daughter and hugging her.

"I missed you so much, Mommy…" Flaky cried.

"I missed you too, Flaky." Her mom replied. Flaky ignored her aching body and continued to embrace her mom. But, suddenly something clicked.

"F-Flaky..?" She asked, stunned. Her mom never knew about her new name… She was still Ruby…

"Yes… You look delirious sweetie. Where do you keep your wallet?" Her mom asked. Flaky looked up at her "mother's" face. She rubbed her eyes, trying to shrug off the effects of her split head. When she looked back up she saw the green haze of a certain fedora-wearing raccoon. "Sweetie?" Shifty asked, his voice suddenly clear that it was just a poor imitation.

Flaky only started crying when she realized she was hallucinating. Shifty shrugged at Lifty, and the two started sifting through her belongings and patting her down for valuables. She started crying louder from her injuries which they were only making worse by touching. "Stop!" She cried. Seconds later the two raccoons held up their bloodied hands, which were holding Flaky's wallet and keys and laughed idly to themselves. They turned around and were prepared to leave the crying and injured porcupine behind, but suddenly they were face-to-face with a pair of manic green eyes attached to a bear that was even crazier-looking.

Shifty only got one scream out before Flippy had twisted his head a complete turn, snapping his neck several times over. The veteran let out an evil chuckle before grabbing the fleeing Lifty by his tail and slamming a knife into his back, yanking it up and carving him clean in half. Flaky covered her head, shaking in fear while the thieves' carcasses hit the ground and Flippy pocketed their stolen goods. Footsteps crunched down in the snow in front of her and suddenly she felt herself being hoisted of the ground. She screamed when she saw Flippy's manic face inches from hers.

She kept screaming until Flippy hugged her to him and patted her back. "Shh… Shh… Don't worry…" He told her, his voice gradually becoming lighter. Flaky looked up at him, his eyes back to their normal black color and full of worry. He had heard her screaming after he had broken his board, and when he checked to investigate she was being harassed by the two thief brothers. He went berserk after that, but now with her in his arms he felt more at ease. She just started crying again from her injuries.

"Th-th-thank you… Flippy…" She choked between sobs. "M-my head h-hurts…"

Flippy looked down at her split skull, "We'd better get you back to the hospital…" He said, sadly. She nodded in response and he lifted her up all the way, one of his arms supporting her head to keep it upright. He started walking down the slope with her in his arms, and it actually did not take long to reach the bottom.

Cuddles and Giggles both ran over to them. "Flaky!?" Cuddles hollered.

Flippy shushed him, "I think she'll be okay if we get her to the emergency room soon…" he said. Everyone motioned to take her off his hands but he shook his head, "I got her. My board's broken and my jeep's just around here anyway."

"I'm coming too. Someone needs to keep her head up…" Cuddles responded. Flippy nodded and in moments they were both in the jeep and heading towards Happy Tree Hospital.

Flaky had lost consciousness on the trip over, but when she woke up she was in the exact same bed as last time, looking at the exact same person. Flippy was holding her hand, and smiled at her when she woke up. "Hi, Flaky…" He said.

"H-hi…" She smiled back, woozy. Her head was all bandaged up and her body had lots of bandages and her leg was in a cast.

"That's two times." Flippy joked, nervously. Flaky laughed nervously too. "At least you avoided death both times, huh?" Flaky shook her head in agreement and he squeezed her hand.

Flaky asked, blushing, "D-do you think that, maybe… I could l-live with you again for a little while…?"

"Of course, Flaky. I told you before, I'd be more than happy to have you…" He said. They looked into each other's eyes for a few moments more. "I'd love to because…" Flippy started, stopping himself. Flaky's eyes started watering, as if asking him to go on. He looked into her eyes and clasped her hand in both of his. "B-because… I love you, Flaky…" He confessed, almost crying. He had to say it. He'd been so lonely over the years. He'd cast himself away from the idea of being involved with anyone, thanks to his other self. But, the day he rescued Flaky on the mountain, his rage was quelled. He thought, maybe, he could make this work.

Tears started rolling out of her eyes and Flippy hugged her, gently, trying not to hurt her. "I love you so much…" He said, hugging her tight. She hugged him back, gingerly. "Ever since I started spending time with you… I've felt that…"

"F-Flippy…" She choked. She rested her head on his shoulder. "I… l-love you t-too…" She cried. She realized that she'd never be able to replace her parents, no matter how hard she tried. But she still had feelings for Flippy, and at that moment they all blossomed into full-blown infatuation.

They both cried tears of joy, quietly as Flippy rocked Flaky as they hugged. Years of loneliness for both of them just started melting away in that moment. An eternity trapped in Happy Tree Forest suddenly started looking more bearable. "I d-don't wanna live by m-myself anymore…" Flaky said, quietly. Flippy patted her back.

"Well now you won't have to…" He said, rocking her. "We'll have each other now." Flaky sighed and smiled. He seemed perfect for her. He was older, but since when in Happy Tree Forest did age matter? It's not like they looked very far apart, age-wise. He looked down into her eyes and smiled, and they gave each other a small kiss. She blushed heavily and he laid her back down. Her eyelids started drooping heavily over her eyes, still pretty tired from the concussion. He held her hand and soon enough she was asleep.

When she came to she was in Flippy's arms in the middle of the night. She looked up at the stars and then where they were going, which was Flippy's house. He opened the door and went to his bedroom, putting her down before realizing she was awake. "Welcome home…" He said, happily. She was right back where she was a few days before, but this time she was much happier. She was not only safe, but loved again. And now she had someone to love as well. She curled up against Flippy and rested her head on his chest, who put his arm around her as she slowly started drifting off again.

"I love you…" She said, weary.

"I love you too…" He responded, before she finally conked out, a smile dominating her face.


	3. Chapter 3

Life of a Little Red Porcupine Ch. 3

By Flaky Ciel

(Notes: Thanks everybody for the reviews and input! This chapter ends a little sad, just to warn you, but it'll get better in the end. I just hope I do well and the story turns out okay.)

--------------------------------------------------------

Flaky woke up with Flippy's arm around her while she was cuddling against him. She smiled and nuzzled against his chest, happily. They'd been together almost a week by then, and she was loving every moment of it. Flippy groggily woke up after her, and hugged her tighter to him. "Good morning, Flaky." He said, happily.

"Good morning." She responded, happily. They kissed and Flippy crawled out of bed, stretching. He went around and picked her up off the bed, carrying her despite the fact that she had got her cast off the day before. They were both practically walking on air for the past few days, basking in each other's affection. He set her down at the table and made sure she was comfy before getting breakfast ready. After they ate the two decided to relax on the couch in the living room, keeping each other company.

Flippy smiled, resting his head on top of hers. "I'm so lucky to have you…" He said.

"We're lucky to have each other." Flaky corrected. He chuckled a little bit.

"Yeah…" The bear agreed. They exchanged glances again. "You're so cute." He added, blushing. Flaky blushed deeper.

"Th-thanks, Flippy…" She said, "But I'm not really…"

He tilted his head, a little shocked, "Of course you are. Why would you say that?"

Flaky looked down, "Because… I'm just not. I mean, I have bad hair and bad dandruff... Plus people tell me all the time they can't tell if I'm a boy or girl…"

"Oh, don't be silly, Flaky." He told her, hugging and rocking her a little. "You're being too down on yourself. You look cute to me."

"Y-you really think so..?" She asked, shyly. He nodded and she smiled and hugged him tighter. "Th-thanks, Flippy…" She said. She'd always been a little concerned about her appearance, but if Flippy said she was cute it was good enough for her.

Flippy thought for a moment. "Flaky, would it make you feel better if we tried to do something about your dandruff?"

"Y-yeah, it would." She said, a little surprised. "My mom used t-to help my put shampoo in my quills, but I can't do it by m-myself…"

"Well, I could always help you with that then."

"Are you sure..?" She hesitated.

"Of course I'm sure. Come on, let's get a bath ready."

It was only moments later when Flippy had got the tub full and managed to get Flaky into it. She just watched him, anxiously as he went through his cabinets looking for a suitable shampoo. "You know, if we manage to get you cured of that dandruff your name isn't going to make much sense." He joked.

"W-well… my real name is R-Ruby…" She stammered.

"Aww, that's a pretty name." Flippy told her. She blushed at the compliment when he finally found what he was looking for. "Aha, this should do the trick." He said. "If not we can pick some stronger stuff up at the store later." Flippy poured some of the gel onto her head and the quills on her back, and then stopped, trying to think of how to actually was her quills without sticking himself with her admittedly ill-kept hair.

Flaky noticed his hesitation, but she wasn't exactly sure either. Flippy shrugged and started trying to lather the shampoo, instantly starting to wince in pain. Flaky just lowered her head, and gingerly started working on the top of her head, which was really the only part she could reach. A few moments went by with Flippy cringing and saying "Ow" every few seconds. Finally he couldn't take any more, since the shampoo was seeping onto his puncture wounds. "I'm sorry, Flaky…" He said, taking his hands away from her, which were covered in suds which were slowly turning red. "I just don't know how to do it."

Flaky sighed when he went to the sink to rinse his hands. "I'm so sorry, Flippy…" She said, tearfully.

"It's not your fault." He told her. "We'll figure it out somehow…" Flaky rinsed herself off, not seeing any point in trying it anymore. The tub was already full of loose flakes from her hair, and she'd get more by the end of the day anyway. Flippy splashed some water on his face, realizing the puncture marks in his hands were more serious than the thought. He shook his head and looked up, finding he had splashed blood on his face too.

"F-Flippy..?" The porcupine called, noticing his transfixion on his reflection. His eye twitched a little staring at his slightly bloodied face, until finally his other self started showing. Flaky gasped in horror and sunk down in the water as low as she could, already starting to tear up. Flippy whirled in her direction, laughing deviously to himself. She screamed as he grabbed her shoulders and shoved her underwater, chuckling manically. He pulled her back out after a few seconds and between coughs she yelled, "Flippy!" before he dunked her back down.

A few repetitions later Flippy was almost ready to drown her until he brought her back up, Flaky wailing like a scared child. "P-p-please! F-Flippy, d-don't!" She bawled. Something inside him snapped, and his twisted eyes started tearing up a bit.

"F-Flaky…" He choked in his deep voice. She slowly opened one eye, still breathing hard, to see him hug her closer to him. "Oh, God… Flaky… I-I didn't mean to…" He sputtered, his voice going back to normal in mid-sentence. She just hugged him and cried, softly.

"It's okay, Flippy…" She said. "I know you didn't mean it…" They were both pretty shaken by the event. That was the first time he'd lost it since they were together, and Flippy was horrified by the fact that his other self really could hurt her. Without saying much they got Flaky out of the tub and dried off,

Flippy still felt horrible, "I'm sorry, Flaky…" He told her again.

She just looked up, shyly, and said, "Don't worry, I'll still love you no matter what." Flippy smiled, slightly comforted, but he was still trying to think of a way to keep his other self from hurting her. "Besides, you stopped before actually k-killing me. That's a good sign, r-right?" She added.

"Yeah…" He sighed, seeing a good point. They shared another loving glance before it was interrupted by a knock at the door to the rhythm of "Shave and a Haircut." They looked at the door and then each other.

"I-I'll get that." Flaky offered. Flippy nodded and she went over to the door, cracking it open like she normally did.

"Flaky!" Cuddles yelled, gleefully. She laughed nervously and opened the door the rest of the way. "I heard you've been here all week! What gives?"

"W-well…" She started, "I've been living here with Flippy for a while. We're… together now." Cuddles stared at her vacantly for a moment.

"You mean you two… are lovers?" He asked, dumbfounded. Flaky blushed and nodded. Cuddles couldn't believe someone as timid as Flaky fell for someone as obviously unstable as Flippy. "B-but, HOW!?" He asked.

"I'm not sure… I-I just love him is all…" She defended.

"But he's a loony! If you set him off he'll kill you as soon as look at you! You should know, he's killed you plenty of times!" Cuddles blathered, flabbergasted. Flaky's eyes narrowed, shocking Cuddles into backing up.

"Shut up, Cuddles!" She yelled at him, hurt. "He's a sweet, caring guy and I don't care what you say about him!" Cuddles was actually shocked that he got Flaky to yell. That was the first time he'd ever seen her do that.

"Sorry, dude…" He apologized, "I'm just… I don't know, I guess I'm worried for you is all. I mean, it seems dangerous…" Flaky looked down, a little embarrassed for getting so worked up.

"Well, d-dangerous or not, I still love him, and he takes good care of me. If you're my friend, you'd be happy for me that I found someone who loves me like he does…"

Cuddles's expression softened and he put a hand on her shoulder. "Of course I'm happy for you. I guess I'm just a little shocked is all. We've been worried about you, anyway… Did you wanna go play with us at the park?" She looked back up, a little excited and worried at the same time.

"I-I dunno…" She said, uncertainly. Flippy walked up behind her, having been listening in the whole time.

"Go ahead, Flaky. It's been a while, hasn't it? You go ahead and I'll catch you in a few minutes, okay?" Flippy said, pretending not to be aggravated by Cuddles's words. Flaky nodded and Cuddles snagged her and headed off at a full run, dragging her along with him. Flippy sighed and walked back inside.

What was eating at him was that Cuddles really was right. He was dangerous to be close to. He dragged himself in front of the mirror and swallowed down a few aspirins. He looked into his mirror, focusing on his reflection, as if trying to summon his alter ego. It worked, though, as the horrific image of his dark side appeared. "Why would you do this to me!?" He hollered at it, instantly, his eyes tearing up. "Why would you try to hurt her!?"

"There's no room for love on the battlefield." It replied, snidely. "It's all about survival. We need to survive. Kill or be killed! You know that's how it worked!"

"There is no war anymore! The fighting's over!" Flippy snapped.

"The war's never over!" It defended. "There's always a fight for survival! It will ALWAYS boil down to this simple fact: If you don't kill, you'll be killed! HAHAHA!"

Flippy grabbed his head, frustrated, "God damn you! Can't you see I don't need to kill anymore!? That I don't need YOU!?"

It glared at him, offended by the idea. "You NEED me! If it weren't for ME, we'd be DEAD! And there was no coming back on that battlefield. You were to weak, too spineless to do what needed to be done! I saved us, and now you dare to tell me you don't need me anymore? Grateful bastard, aren't you?"

"Yeah, you saved me…" Flippy admitted, "But now you're taking everything from me!"

"What, love? HA! A soldier like us doesn't need love. The only thing that matters is surviving, and making sure that the enemy doesn't! And anyone who's a threat to our survival is an enemy."

"Leave me alone!" He screamed, starting to cry. "You're nothing! You're just in my head, so leave me be!"

"I AM you!" It yelled back, "I'm the only reason we're still alive! I'm all that is in you that had the balls to realize that it's either kill or be killed." Flippy broke down, sobbing. His reflection leaned forward, talking down to him, "You'll never get rid of me. I've become a part of you forever. We have a symbiotic relationship, you and I. You keep us housed, and I keep us alive."

"Why do you have to kill everyone!?"

"Because it needs to be done!" It bellowed, "And I enjoy every minute of it! And why shouldn't I? If I had to kill to keep us alive, I might as well enjoy it, hahaha!"

"Stop it! I can't take it, you can't hurt Flaky anymore!" He half-begged.

His reflection grinned evilly, "Oh, but I can. And I will. She's a threat to us. She's making you even softer than you already are, you unicorn-lovin' pussy! I won't let that happen. Ever." Flaky stood up and ran to his bedroom, going through his drawers and finally removing an army pistol from its contents. He ran back to the bathroom, threatening to shoot himself. "Oh, what? You're gonna kill yourself? What would that do? You'll just come back, along with me!"

Flippy dropped the gun, bursting into tears. "Why!? If you want us to survive so badly, why can't I have anyone!?"

"You have me. That's all you need." It told him, firmly. "You'll always have me. And if she means that much to you, you'd best keep me the hell away from her. She may keep loving you, no matter what I do to her, but I guarantee you she'll wish she'd stay dead! Mwahahahaha!"

Flippy collapsed onto the sink, crying. "I wish you had just let me die…" He sobbed.

"You don't mean that." It corrected him.

It was almost an hour later when Flaky got back with a black eye, but surprisingly otherwise unharmed. "Flippy? Are you okay?" She called. "You never showed up at the park…" She went into the bedroom to see him staring at his gun, his eyes red from crying. "F-Flippy..? Wh-what's the matter?" She ran over to him to hug him but he stopped her in mid-step.

"Flaky… I'm sorry…" He said, woefully.

"F-For what?" She asked.

"We… can't be together. You have to go home." He said, sternly, but unsuccessfully masking the sorrow in his voice. Flaky realized he was worried about his other self.

"B-but Flippy!" She protested, starting to tear up. "H-he can't kill me forever… I-I'd come back, and I'd still love you…"

"Flaky I can't do this. I just… I just can't…" He mourned. She started walking towards him again, but he suddenly pointed his gun at her, menacingly. But his eyes retained their black hue. "Flaky… I mean this… It's over…" She started tearing up more.

"B-but… I love you… and… y-you love me, r-right?" She asked, her legs shaking. Flippy stared at her eyes a moment before looking away.

"I can't…" He told her, coldly. She felt her heart shatter. Tears started flowing but she didn't make any noise. She just backed away from him, slowly. "Just… please, go home…" She backed out his front door and stared at it a few moments. Her legs didn't want to move even after he had closed the door on her.

She only stood for a moment more before she finally burst into a complete crying fit. She turned and ran as fast as her little legs could carry her, back to her home. She bolted herself in, collapsing onto her bed, and sobbing uncontrollably, crying harder than she ever had since she had lost her parents. She curled up and cried herself to sleep, her thoughts dominated by memories of how much she thought they had loved each other.

Flippy sat back down on his bed and put his gun away, picking up the stuffed bear Flaky had left behind. He was crying hard now, too. He looked up at the bathroom mirror and stomped towards it, sobbing. His evil reflection leered at him. "I… I hate you… so much…" He said, crying and seething with rage.

"Hate. There's an emotion appropriate for a first-class soldier like us." It said, cruelly. It started laughing at him, with its evil and manic laugh. He raised his fist and smashed it into the mirror, shattering it. He dropped to the ground and covered his head, crying mournfully.


	4. Chapter 4

Life of a Little Red Porcupine Ch. 4

By Flaky Ciel

--------------------------------------------------------

Flaky just hugged a blanket to herself, fantasizing about Flippy holding her. She hadn't seen him in days, and in those days she had hardly spoken a word. Cuddles, Toothy, Giggles, and Petunia all did their best to try to cheer her up, but she seemed to resist their efforts at every turn. "Hey, Flaky. Did you want to come play with us? We were going to the playground if you want to come." Cuddles offered. She just rocked herself and her blanket, slowly looking up and then nodding.

Cuddles put his arm around her while they walked, trying to comfort her as best he could. She looked miserable, just absent-mindedly walking everywhere with no real drive. She had dark rings under her eyes and her normally unkempt hair was even worse than usual. The tangled mat of quills had more dandruff attached to them then ever before. She was just seemingly lost in another time and place altogether. She'd been killed twice since Flippy left her, and her overly-cautious behavior all but disappeared.

Her self-esteem took a massive hit too. She thought that maybe he didn't want her around anymore, since she was so cowardly, and that he didn't want to have to worry about having a girl like that. Or that she wasn't pretty enough, and had bad dandruff they couldn't get rid of. Or maybe he just didn't love her enough. Or, it could just be a combination of all of those, she thought.

She was just wracked with thoughts of Flippy that she'd never get to see come true. Her parents had left her life, and now her love. Flaky just resigned herself to never being truly happy, and just sunk into a near-catatonic state. She sat down on the edge of the park, just staring at the ground, still rocking herself. Cuddles got down from the monkey bars and sat next to her. "Everything's going to be okay, Flake…" he told her. She just looked up at him with eyes full of sadness, making Cuddles feel his heart sink. She threw her arms around him, bawling.

Cuddles just patted her back and let her cry, feeling horrible about the whole thing. "I l-l-loved him so m-much…" She wailed. "N-now I'm g-gonna be all a-l-lone again…"

"You'll always have your friends…" He tried to comfort her. She nodded, weakly, before suddenly returning to her dazed state, sniffling. Cuddles sighed, getting up and returning to his other friends, hoping in vain that Flaky would join them.

Meanwhile, Flippy still paced back and forth, frantically. He'd been at odds with his other self for several days, and obviously looked like he hadn't slept during that time. "You need to get some sleep." The image in the living room mirror told him. "Going this long without it isn't good for us."

"Shut up!" Flippy snapped at it, impatiently. "You're the last person on the planet I need to hear a lecture from! What hurts me hurts you, and I'm more than willing to suffer to make you do it too."

"But you forget I can take a lot more than you can, hahaha." It said, boastfully. Flippy just shot it an acidic glare and resumed pacing. "All this over some little porcupine bitch." It mused, shaking its head.

Flippy reeled on the mirror, shaking it, "Don't you dare talk about Flaky like that!" He yelled. His reflection only laughed at him, making him even more angry.

"You're funny when you're mad." It said. "But that's a great response when you need to survive like we do."

Flippy clenched his teeth, furious. "You talk forever about survival, don't you!? Well, what about children? Isn't that the whole point to surviving!? To love? Do pass on your genes? You're a survivalist, I bet you could see something as primal as that."

"No, the point to surviving is to carry on OUR consciousness, not make a new one. Besides, it's not like we need an heir; we don't age and we can't die, after all."

"As far as we know." Flippy spat. "We could get too old and die anyway! We just don't know, do we!? And even if we don't die… I still want a kid someday…"

The monster put its hand to its chin, thoughtfully, "Huh. I s'pose I could have let you knock her up before sending her off. But then again, your genes are my genes too, and I don't know if I want them mixed with such a coward. Besides, your just mad because you need something to screw, heheheheh."

Flippy shook with rage and was about to break another mirror when suddenly his doorbell rang. He stomped over and swung the door open. "What!?" He yelled at a startled Lumpy.

"Hey Neighbor! Just coming by to see how you're doin'! Heard some yelling in here." The blue moose replied. They stared at each other for a moment before Flippy slammed the door on him. He started to go back and argue with himself more when it was rung again. He opened the door and cocked his fist, ready to punch Lumpy's lights out when he saw that it was Cuddles this time.

"Hey, Flippy…" The rabbit said. "Sorry for what I said the other day… it's not true."

Flippy sighed and lowered his fist, "No, you're right… I am a danger to everyone around me…"

Cuddles shrugged, "Well, I can't argue that point. But what I really came here to say is that… well… Flaky's miserable without you…" Flippy backed away a little bit. "She really, really loves you, man. Lately her already-low self-esteem is just… well, gone. It's like she's dead, almost." The two had an awkward silence spring up around them. "I'm not telling you what to do or anything…" Cuddles continued, awkwardly, "But, I think that, compared to her life as it is, a life with you, injuries or not, is much better…"

Cuddles turned around, making his way back towards the playground. He looked over his shoulder to take a last look at Flippy, but he'd already retreated inside. Flippy paced back and forth inside, thinking. With him, or without him, Flaky was going to be hurt one way or another. "What are you thinking? You're not really going to go after her again are you?" His reflection asked. Flippy ignored it, and continued trying to decide. "If you bring her back here you'll wish you hadn't, I promise you."

"You know what?" Flippy asked, rhetorically. "I don't think you can do that. I might have to stress about you a whole lot, way more than I can deal with in fact, but this…" He said, pointing towards himself, "is me. Not you, THIS."

"You can't just ignore me!" It spat. "I'll get out one way or another, and I'll make her suffer! You can't rely on anyone but yourself! We are the same person!" Flippy just stared at it, fed up. He threw his dog-tags to the ground, inciting a surprised gasp from his reflection.

"Do you mean that? Or is it just that the concept of love scares you!?" Flippy returned.

"I'm not afraid of anything!" His reflection countered. They just glared at each other. "Fine, go get your bitch! But I swear to God, you'll regret it. I will make her squeal and beg for death!"

"I don't think so." Flippy said, still sad but surprisingly confident. "I stifled you down before… I even used you to save her from Shifty and Lifty. As long as I'm here, I don't think you can hurt her too badly, and if she's with me, I bet I'd get more of a handle on you!"

"We'll see…" It snapped. "But you can't love her too much, if you're willing to let me get our hands on her, hahahaha!" Flippy closed his eyes, tired of listening to his alter ego. He rubbed them and looked back at his reflection, only to see a mirror image of himself. He sighed and sat down. What if he's right, Flippy thought. Would it be selfish of him to ask her to live with him, despite the dangers? But Cuddles just said she was miserable without him, so either way Flaky just seems destined to be in pain.

"Well… at least… if she lived with me, I could take care of her when I'm able…" He said, aloud. He stood up. That solved it. He would just ask Flaky to make her own choice.

At the park, Flaky continued to rock herself, even after Cuddles had got back. He sat down next to her and sighed. He looked up to the other part of the playground, seeing an ice-cream truck on the street nearby, with none other than Nutty freaking out all over it, jittering so much he was sending bits of ice-cream and sno-cone everywhere. He gently nudged her, "Hey, Flaky, want some ice-cream?" She looked up and then back down, and shook her head no. "Oh, please? C'mon, Flake. Let's go get some ice cream. It might cheer you up."

Flaky didn't respond but she followed him anyway, obediently. "Two please." He told the ice-encrusted caveman behind the counter. He somehow received two cones, one of which he handed Flaky. She didn't really start eating, she just held it and continued to stare into space. Cuddles sighed again, defeated, and took her hand and started walking back towards the park. They stopped in their tracks, however, when the sound of screeching tires popped up behind them.

Nutty got one scream out before Flippy's jeep, skidding on the copious puddle of melted treats, ran him over, snapping his neck clean off before ramming into the ice-cream truck where Cro-Marmot was stationed. Flaky dropped her cone, horrified, and ran to the scene with Cuddles tailing her. When she got there Nutty seemed to be the only casualty, as Cro-Marmot was well protected in that block of ice, and Flippy had miraculously been spared, though he did look pretty bad from crashing face-first into his steering wheel.

"Flippy!" Flaky shouted, her and Cuddles helping him out of the car. The bear shook his head, shaking off the daze, and looked up at Flaky. He still had the strength to stand, which he did, and grabbed Flaky in a huge hug.

"Thank God…" Flippy said, softly, holding Flaky to him. "Flaky… I'm sorry I made you so sad…" Flaky just nuzzled him for a moment before suddenly breaking the hug, and looking up at him.

"B-but you s-said we could never be t-together…" Flaky cried, still upset. "And I loved you…"

"And I'm still not sure if it's a good idea…" Flippy admitted, making Flaky start to tear up even more. "But, that's why I decided to let you decide that… And I was on my way over here to ask you to, but I got in a bit of an accident…"

"A bit!?" Cuddles asked, startled, looking at Nutty's remains.

Flaky started to speak but Flippy stopped her. "Flaky, you really have to consider this… For my sake… My other self, I don't know if I'll ever be able to control him…"

"I don't c-care about that…" Flaky whimpered, but Flippy continued anyway.

"Flaky, if I lose it and he shows up, he could hurt you very badly… torture you even… I'm not positive, but he still might. I-I don't want you to get hurt because of me…"

Flaky hugged him tighter and said, "I know he could h-hurt me, but I d-don't care… I don't want to be a-l-lone anymore, Flippy… I really don't… And I love you so m-much, that he doesn't matter to me."

"Are you sure? 100?" He asked, staring into her eyes. She nodded in response, crying. He smiled and sighed, embracing her again. Their lips locked in a passionate kiss, practically feeding off each other's renewed love. That moment seemed to drag on forever, until of course the sound of truck horns filled the air behind them.

Before they could turn around they'd both been hit by the Mole's semi-truck, barreling over the ice-cream truck in the process. Flaky struggled to look up and saw the last few ounces of life drain out of Flippy's eyes, having been split in half from the collision. She flopped down, not knowing how badly she was hurt, horrified. She let out one scream as memories of her trip there came flooding back. Then everything went black for a moment, and then her body felt like it was on fire, and she could feel every injury she had accumulated from the impact.

Then suddenly it was all over and she opened her eyes. She was back at Happy Tree Hospital. She sighed, realizing that she must've died. She tried to move but felt something around her, and looked up to find that Flippy was holding her, tenderly. "That's kind of a mood-kill…" Flippy noted, his eyes still closed due to the fatigue of resurrection.

Flaky smiled and blushed, "Y-yeah, kinda…" She cuddled up to him, exceedingly thankful to be back in his arms. She had missed him so much, and she felt her heart easing up. The two just laid there in the hospital bed for several moments.

"Flaky…" Flippy started, hesitantly, "So you're… you're sure that you want to live with me..?"

"Of course I am, Flippy… I'm just glad you'd even want me…" Flaky said, relieved.

"Of course I would…" He said, happily. It was settled, finally. Flippy hugged Flaky to him, as happy as ever. They really would be together, after all. They both closed their eyes, lost in a dream come true.

When Flippy opened his eyes again, he was back in his own bedroom, strangely. He felt another presence suddenly, and looked to his right to see his worse half looming over him and his love. He realized he was dreaming. "What do you want.,?" He spat, hugging Flaky to him.

"I just wanted to give you one, final, chance to rethink this…" It told him.

Flippy scowled, "Flaky decided on it. She loves me more than she fears you." His dark side laughed, evilly.

"She's not much in the brains department then. I know it's not guts that motivated her, heheheh. Both of you are spineless." It mused.

"Just, leave her alone." Flippy demanded.

"Why ask me to make promises you know I won't keep?" It asked, getting closer to Flaky. "But I've been thinking about this dead-weight… I guess you could say she's my bitch too, now!" It laughed.

Flippy pulled Flaky away from him, defensively. "No, she's not. And stop calling her that!"

"We'll just see how things go. But I know she'll be wanting to leave before long. But… in the meantime… I guess I'll just try to have as much fun with her as I can!"

"No!" Flippy yelled back. "I won't let you!" He shut his eyes, tightly. When they opened he was back in the hospital, holding a sleeping Flaky. He looked down at her ran his hand across her cheek. "I'll find a way to control you…" He said, still addressing his alter ego. "And Flaky can help me…"

Flaky dreamed about the day her parents had died, and she woke up, startled. Flippy rocked her, slightly. "Hey, Flaky…" He said. "Are you ready to come home with me..?"

"Y-yeah." She said, happy. "J-just promise me that you won't l-leave me again…"

"Flaky… if you're willing to stay with me, despite what I might do, I promise you, I'll always be here for you whenever I can… I'll be here to protect you…" He responded.

"Th-thank you, Flippy…" She replied. "I love you so much…"

"I love you too… C'mon, let's go home." He said. They got up and walked out of the hospital, then strolling back to Flippy's house, hand-in-hand.


	5. Chapter 5

Life of a Little Red Porcupine Ch. 5

By Flaky Ciel

--------------------------------------------------------

Flaky just relaxed as Flippy combed through the tangled mess of spines on her body. It was too hard to do herself, and having Flippy there to help her felt wonderful. Of course, having him around her all the time felt wonderful. The bear finally put down the slightly oversized comb, content with his work. "There, now with all your quills running downwards I shouldn't stick myself when we cuddle anymore." He said, rubbing his nose on hers, making her giggle lightly.

"Thanks, Flippy, for helping m-me with that…" Flaky said.

"Of course." He smiled, making her smile back. They hugged, gently, Flippy stroking his hand down her back to test his theory, which turned out to be true. "Your hair is certainly hard to take care of." He said, jokingly.

"I know… I'm s-sorry." She said, apologetically.

"Don't be sorry. I guess it comes with being a porcupine, huh?" He asked, rhetorically. Flaky sighed, a little relieved that he wasn't bothered by it. Her self-esteem was getting better and better, and as she stood then she'd never been so comfortable with herself. The past few weeks had been very kind to her, after all. She was with her lover, and she only died once when crossing the street during that time, which was a record for her. Her fearfulness hadn't let up though, but she figured it was going to be part of her forever.

Flippy too was having a wonderful time. His years of loneliness were easing up dramatically and his dark side hadn't been around too much, as of late. Flippy figured the emotions he was feeling, love and compassion, were unsettling to his alter-ego who obviously couldn't understand them. "Say, Flaky, weren't you supposed to meet Cuddles and Toothy down at the park for a soccer game?" Flippy asked.

"Uhuh. We'd better g-get down there pretty soon…" She said, a little frightened.

"Aww, what's wrong?" He asked, noting the uncertainty in her voice.

She blushed, "W-well, I just d-don't like playing sports too much… I'm always s-scared to get hurt…"

"Don't worry, you'll be fine." Flippy comforted her, "Besides, I'll be there watching you the whole time. Okay?"

She nodded, "Okay. I promised C-Cuddles I would anyway." Flaky grabbed her soccer stuff and they both hopped in Flippy's miraculously-repaired jeep and drove off. To Flaky it only seemed like a few seconds later when she was standing in front of the goal net, shaking.

"C'mon, you can do it, sweetie!" Flippy called out to her, inciting a nervous laugh from his partner. He sat back down and took a swig from his soda, watching. Cuddles kicked the ball toward her, intending to make a goal. She whimpered and hit the deck, covering her head and letting the ball soar right over her head.

"GOAL!" Cuddles shouted, caught in the moment and giving a high-five to Giggles. Toothy shook his head.

"You're supposed to BLOCK the ball!" Toothy scolded.

"S-sorry…" She said, looking down nervously. Toothy patted her on the shoulder and ran off, leaving her to her post.

"I have really got to work on her self-certainty…" Flippy noted to himself, feeling bad for her.

"You got a lot of work to do there." Sniffles snorted. Flippy knew he was only teasing but it still annoyed him. He watched Flaky fail to block a few more shots and sighed. He looked down at Sniffles again, the only other spectator, who was munching down a hot-dog slathered in ketchup. Flippy twitched a little bit, looking at the anteater's "blood" soaked face, stifling down memories. He shook his head and bolted towards the bathroom, charging in and instantly going for the faucet to splash some cold water on his face.

He looked at his reflection, hoping to see his own reflection, but instead saw his twisted doppelganger. "You certainly know how to pick 'em." It scoffed. "Why not just throw yourself into a grave while you're at it? 'Cause let me tell you she's just destroying your common sense."

Flippy sighed, frustrated. "She is not!" He defended.

"Says the man who started making out with her in the middle of the street!" It snapped. "And you risk yourself over the most spineless woman here. Jeez…"

"Flaky is a wonderful girl…" Flippy stated, sternly. "I wouldn't trade her for anyone else in the world."

"Why? 'Cause she's letting you into her pants? Erm… Figuratively." It asked, insultingly.

Flippy almost broke that mirror too before saying, "That's not the reason! Flaky's sweet, innocent, and kind…"

"Everything you covet." It pointed out.

"Everything you're NOT." Flippy's reflection laughed, finding it funny that Flippy had bothered to mention that. "Anyway, you'd better get used to the idea of her staying, because she's not going anywhere."

"Whatever." It said, a little distracted. Flippy splashed more water on his face, making the specter disappear. When he went outside, he found that he'd been in there a lot longer than he'd thought, as everyone save Flaky had left and she was just sitting on the bleachers, waiting for him. She got up and ran to him, giving him a big hug.

"You okay..?" She asked, worried.

"I'm alright. I just got a little sick is all."

"I didn't think I did THAT bad…" She said. He was about to comfort her when he realized she was joking, and they exchanged a friendly smile and went home after sharing their "I love you"s.

When they got back they watched some TV together and then started getting ready for bed, Flaky a little distracted looking herself over in the mirror. "If you want..." Flippy started, "we can pick you up some stronger shampoo at the store tomorrow. Maybe that would start clearing it up, Ruby." She smiled and blushed.

"You can still call me Flaky…" She said.

"I'll call you whatever you want."

"Flaky's fine." She smiled. Flippy noticed his reflection suddenly gesturing, menacingly in the mirror towards her. "Let's get to bed…" She said, walking past him and grabbing his hand.

"Yeah…" Flippy responded, still a little distracted. They were both pretty tired, so they just curled around each other and gave their partner a good night kiss before drifting lazily into sleep.

When Flippy came to he was back in his normal dream setting, a happy, flower-filled meadow. He sighed at the peaceful scenery and leaned backwards against a tree. "If only Flaky were here in my dreams more often." He mused, "Then they'd be even better." He tilted his beret downwards over his eyes, relaxing. He heard the unicorns and other such things off in the distance, making their general ambient sounds. He chuckled, sure it was a little girly, but it was his safe haven from reality, his peaceful patch to hide in. Until of course…

Flippy felt himself being hoisted into the air by his neck, grabbing at the wire wrapped around it. "Y-You!" He choked, realizing his other self was behind it.

"You know, I was thinking, you two have been a couple for over a month now, and it's rather rude of you not to let your better half get acquainted with your worse half! Hahahaha!" It laughed, sinisterly as it choked the life out of him. It knew that it could keep control over his body for a good hour or two if it beat him in his dream world. It wasn't often it got an opportunity like that. Flippy's body went limp, just in time.

He woke with a start, shouting a little bit. "Flippy? You okay?" Flaky asked, worried. It was past 4:00 in the morning.

"I'm just fine…" Flippy said, in his deep, gravely voice. Flaky's pupils dilated with terror and she instantly started backing up, trying to get away from him. He jumped out of bed after her and grabbed her wrist, pulling her to him and grabbing her in more of a death-lock than a hug. "What's the matter, sweetie? It's me, Flippy."

"You're not Flippy!" She yelled, panicking, "You're his evil side!"

"It hurts when people throw names like that around." It said, pretending to be offended. "Evil side. Pfff. Dark side, twisted side, "Flipped out". Make no mistake, I AM Flippy. In fact, this part of me is the only reason I'm even here…" He said. Flaky kept trying to wriggle out of his grip, but Flippy grabbed her again, and wrapped one arm around her as if about to start waltzing.

"Please!" She yelled, terrified.

"I'm not evil." It stated. "I just know what it takes to make us survive. You have no idea how hard it is to survive on the battlefield. The things you have to do. The things you start getting used to. The things you start… enjoying…" He paused, before chuckling to himself. He leered down at her, as if he was about to kill her, making her scream. He walked her into another room, swinging her suddenly into a glass display case and cutting up her body, terribly.

She coughed and groaned in pain, but Flippy grabbed her up again. "So if you want your lover, you're going to have to deal with both his sides… I don't think you're going to last much longer… You're not strong enough!" He laughed evilly at her. She started responding with the only reaction she could think of, and started crying. "See? Just like that. Bawling like child." He waltzed her into another room, sadistically. "Oh well. I suppose I can't really complain right now. You've just given me a new toy to play with! Hahahaha!" He tossed her down, and cracked his neck, drawing a bowie knife out of nowhere.

"N-no! P-please don't! F-Flippy!" She cried, horrified.

"How much can you take before you crack and run home, crying to your mommy? Oh, right. She's dead. Heheheheh." Flaky only buried her head, and started crying harder. Flippy continued. "So tell me… how? How shall I kill you?" She just started shaking between sobs.

Flippy grabbed her and hoisted her to her feet, pointing her in the direction of the door. "I'm giving you one chance… one chance to RUN! Make it interesting!" She only looked at the door. "Well!?"

"N-n-no…" She choked, covering her own mouth afterward. Flippy grinned. She had more backbone than he thought. He shrugged and raised his knife over his head, ready to stab her, but for some reason his arm wouldn't come down and finish the job. He gritted his teeth, feeling his other self's influence stopping him from committing the deed.

"Apparently you mean a lot to me." Flippy stated, amused. "You've got me at quite a stand-still. I'm not sure what to do, honestly." He laughed, sinisterly.

"P-please don't k-kill me…" She sobbed.

"I'll get around to that later." He said, looking over the poor girl. He was a little unsettled by the strange, but very faint feeling in his chest. He thought for a moment and then grinned. "I do have other needs, though…" He mused, staring lustfully at the horrified little porcupine before forcing her into a passionate kiss.

Inside his head, Flippy struggled to regain control of himself. He was lost in the blackness of being pushed into the sub-conscious. It seemed like hours before he saw his darker half walk out of the blackness. "What did you do to her!?" Flippy asked, swinging away at his other self.

"Lucky for you, I'm letting her live for now…" It said, in a much less playful mood than usual. Flippy looked at it, cautiously.

"Why's that?" He asked, sensing a trick.

"I'm not sure…" It responded. "But until I can get all this figured out… well, I guess we can keep her. Heheheheh."

When Flippy woke up, he and Flaky were still in bed. She was curled up in his arms, shaking badly. He looked over her cuts and a few bruises, but she looked pretty good considering who had attacked her. She woke up after him, and looked up with big watery eyes. Suddenly Flippy looked at her, scared.

"Oh, Flaky… He didn't…" He trailed off, not wanting to finish the sentence.

"W-we just kissed…" She said, hesitantly, hugging him. Flippy breathed a sigh of relief. It wasn't like his other self. He rocked her, comfortingly.

"So… he only kissed you..?" Flippy asked, just to make sure.

Flaky didn't answer at first, but suddenly Flippy realized she was tearing up, "W-well…" She said, holding back tears.

"Oh, Flaky…" He said, starting to tear up too. She nuzzled him, drying her tears on his jacket.

"It doesn't matter, Flippy… it was still technically you…" She said, forcing a smile. He smiled back at her, resting his head on hers.

"I'm sorry I let him get out…" He apologized.

"It's not your fault…" She said, smiling widely, happy to have her real love back. "And I don't care about him, as long as I get you back…" They both cried and hugged, thankfully, and once again moved on with their happy lives. They kept going, soon unhindered by the little breakdown caused by Flippy's other side, who only served a few more in the following months. She figured that it technically wasn't rape, since she was still technically with the man she loved. And soon Flippy was convinced that the dark being in his mind couldn't really break them apart, no matter how hard it tried. Their love seemed unshakable.

A few months later, Flaky stood behind the door to the small church of Happy Tree Forest. She was dressed up in a beautiful white gown, with Giggles standing by her. "Ready?" Giggles asked, and Flaky nodded, timidly. They walked though the isle of the church, Flaky shaking like a leaf the entire time as everyone stared at her. Flippy and Cuddles both waited for them, dressed up in suits, at the alter, Flippy obviously nervous and Cuddles silently heckling him for it.

Lumpy cleared his throat and took some cards out of his sleeve when Flaky reached them, a trail of flowers and dandruff following her. "Let's see…" Lumpy said aloud, squinting at his cards labeled "Priest Stuff". "Hmm… let's just get right to it." Lumpy said, looking at the bride and groom's obvious distress. "Do you, Flaky, take this bear to be your lawfully wedded wife?" Lumpy paused, waiting for an answer, but the silence of the church told him he got it wrong. "Oh, whoops." He said, chuckling nervously. "Do you, Flippy, take this porcupine to be your lawfully wedded wife?"

"… I do." Flippy said, staring into Flaky's eyes.

"Okay, good. Huhuh. Flaky, do you do the same thing only with 'bear' and 'husband' in there?" Lumpy asked, inanely.

"I-I-I d-… I d-… I d-…" Flaky stuttered, crying and shaking. Lumpy looked at his watch, impatiently.

"Okay, good enough. Now if you'd exchange rings…" Lumpy said, pausing. Flippy difficultly put Flaky's ring on her shaking hand, and he just put his own on afterwards. "I now pronounce you two man and wife. Er… husband and wife… Or, bear and porcupine. Yeah, one of those. You can kiss if you want." Lumpy stated, before wandering off. Flippy and Flaky kissed each other, followed by a round of applause by their friends in the alter. They both blushed as they pulled away, and Flaky's eyes rolled back in her head as she fainted.

That night Flippy cradled his new wife, her head resting on his chest and fast asleep. He rubbed her slightly swollen tummy, two months pregnant, and started nodding off himself before he heard a familiar voice. "How sentimental." Flippy's reflection in the mirror across the room chimed. "I regret getting her knocked up. You both make me sick."

"You know, I should actually thank you." Flippy said, sleepily. His reflection cocked an eyebrow, suddenly not amused. "You helped prove that you can't destroy this relationship. Plus, I really do owe you my thanks, for saving us back in the war. If it weren't for you, I wouldn't be here holding her right now."

It scowled, "Whatever. This won't change anything, you know. She's still going to suffer, along with you, and no amount of love you have for her can stop me."

Flippy smiled, confidently. "I doubt that's true."

--------------------------------------------------------

((Notes: The end! For now :D))


	6. Epilogue

Life of a Little Red Porcupine: Epilogue

By Flaky Ciel

(Notes: Sorry for the late addition, but I finally decided on a way to wrap up this story and set up the next one I'm probably gonna be writing :D )

--------------------------------------------------------

At the hospital, Flippy rubbed his sleeping wife's hand, gently. He'd been there for over four days, living off the vending machine outside. Flaky's eyes opened, and he smiled at her. "Hey, sweetie." He said, putting his other hand on her pregnant belly.

"H-hi, Flippy…" She cooed back, weakly. Her face was as white as a sheet, and she looked more fatigued than Flippy himself. Her spines were all dug into the bed too. Flippy hugged and kissed her, comfortingly.

"I'm sure it'll be fine, this time." He assured her. She pulled her covers up, a little scared.

"I hope so…" She said, on the verge of tears. She'd already gone through the pain of childbirth twice before, just days in between. The first time the baby had passed away after being delivered, much to its parent's sorrow, but the next day Flaky woke up, pregnant with it again. The second time both Flaky and the baby had died, but this time Flippy was praying for it all to work out right. Not as hard as Flaky, though.

"It will. Trust me." He said. Flaky smiled and rested her head on his shoulder. He had hardly left her side the entire time, which made it all bearable for her. He was still wearing the same clothes though, with a large, noticeable blood splatter running down its front. Flippy smiled, shyly, when Flaky looked at it.

On the way over, Lumpy, acting sheriff of the town at the time, had pulled him over for speeding. "Do you realize how fast you were going?" The moose had asked, pretending not to know Flippy.

"Look, Lumpy! I don't have time for this! Flaky, she's going to have a baby!" Flippy stammered, panicking. Flaky was in the passenger's seat, crying and screaming. Lumpy stared at them a few moments.

"I'm afraid I'm going to have to see your… um… license and registration. Yeah, that's what I need." He said, ignoring the point. Flippy slapped his hand over his face, impatiently. He clutched at the steering wheel, and when he moved his hand his piercing green eyes stared back at Lumpy. The moose screamed as he plunged a bowie knife into his ribs, driving off immediately afterwards.

Flippy snapped back, still a little distracted by the unusually charitable act of his other self. Or, was his own will affecting it? Either way, it didn't matter. He snuggled his wife, lovingly, and held her hand. Suddenly she winced, feeling a contraction. She grabbed Flippy's hand tighter. "Oh… Flippy, I think it's happening again…" She whined.

"Giggles!!!" Flippy yelled out, already almost panicking. Several crashes were heard and Giggles came skittering around the corner.

"I'm here I'm here!" She yelled, running up to Flaky. "Just calm down, relax…" She said, apparently forgetting who she was talking to.

"I'm scared…" Flaky admitted, softly. She winced again, crying out.

"Flaky, you're going to have to relax." Flippy told her, squeezing her hand and lightly stroking her head.

"I-I c-can't!" She almost shouted, already starting to hyperventilate. Several minutes passed, with Flippy and Giggles both trying to calm her down. Cuddles showed up in the middle of it all, trying to lend a hand.

"C'mon buddy, just keep breathing!" The rabbit shouted. They all kept encouraging her to relax, but Flaky still couldn't quite do it. She kept screaming, going through the pain of birth for the third time.

"Flaky, just keep breathing and pushing." Giggles instructed, helping her deliver the child. Flaky did it, but for some reason wasn't making much progress outside of crying, and she was hyperventilating out of control. "This isn't going to work…" Giggles said, dismally.

"What!?" Flaky and Flippy both shouted, frightened.

"I think I see a head…" Cuddles choked, almost as pale as the mother-to-be. Giggles grabbed up a scalpel, testing it once for sharpness. She turned back towards Flaky, brandishing the instrument. Flaky and Flippy looked away, unable to watch what was about to happen. Flaky screamed, wincing in even more pain as Giggles went about cutting her open. Grabbing hold of Flippy's hand with one, and Cuddles's in the other, she started panicking and babbling out of pain and fear.

Flippy couldn't watch either, seeing blood spurting up from the corner of his eye and Flaky wincing in his arms. Giggles, who was also panicking a little, suddenly let out a sigh of relief, and suddenly the sound of a baby crying filled the entire room. Cuddles and Flaky both passed out, one from agony and relief, the other from witnessing childbirth. Giggles sighed, holding the infant in her arms. "Well, Flippy. You're a daddy now." She said, turning towards him. His eyes rolled back as he fainted too, falling out of his chair and leaving Giggles as the only conscious person in the room.

Flaky was the last person to wake, and she did so slowly. Suddenly her eyes snapped open and she sat up, painfully. "The baby!" She shouted, crying.

"Shh… the baby's right here…" Flippy said, putting his hand on hers. She sniffled a little, happily, seeing the bundle in Flippy's arms. "She fell asleep too. I think she might have been just as upset being born three times as you. Hahaha."

Flaky breathed a sigh of relief, since it was finally over. She looked down, realizing that most of her lower tummy was covered in bloody bandages. She looked around, seeing Cuddles and Giggles holding hands, talking to each other. Flaky looked back down at her baby, tearing up. Flippy smiled and handled the little bundle over to her.

Flaky looked down at her newborn daughter, who sniffled and opened her eyes. Her fur was a light shade of green, just like her father's, but she mostly resembled a porcupine, judging from the short coat of quills on her head. Flaky started crying tears of joy, looking into her cute little daughter's eyes. "She's adorable…" Flaky sobbed, smiling.

"Just like you." Flippy added, sitting next to her on the bed and admiring their child. They kissed before looking back at their daughter. Flippy put his arm around his lover, and she leaned against him, still holding their baby. She kept crying, happily, suddenly looking a little concerned.

"Flippy…" She said, rocking her daughter, who stared back, babbling a little. "I-I'm not s-sure if I'm ready to be a m-mom…" She admitted, sheepishly. Flippy gave her a questioning glance. "I-I mean, I'm still not quite g-grown up myself… And I don't know everything I need to b-be a mom…"

"Oh, Flaky. Don't be ridiculous. You'll make a wonderful mother…" Flippy assured her. He had to admit his wife could still behave much like a child sometimes, at least where her fear is concerned, and some of her interests, but he knew she could make a wonderful mom.

"You really think so?" She asked, hesitantly. Flippy nodded, reassuringly. Flaky smiled, her eyes still full of tears, and she hugged her newborn to her, touching cheeks with her. The baby cooed, happily.

"Of course you will, Flaky." Cuddles piped in, walking over to them with Giggles in tow. "She'll have her good ol' uncle Cuddles to help out with her too, don't you forget it."

Flaky and Flippy looked at each other, smiling. "Uncle Cuddles?" Flippy asked, amused.

"Darn right!" Cuddles asserted. "Flaky's practically my sister, after all! Besides, I'd love to help you out anyway."

Flaky blushed, happily, "Awww, thank you, C-Cuddles…" She said, honestly. Cuddles gave a thumbs-up before Giggles cleared her throat.

"What about OUR family, Cuddles?" She asked, bashfully.

"Erm… Well, I guess I could practice being an uncle, first. Yeah, look at it that way." He said, with a nervous laugh. "What do you call one of those anyway?" He asked, jokingly.

"A bearcupine, I guess." Giggles responded, also joking. Flaky blushed, looking down at the little bearcupine.

"Wh-what should we name her, Flippy?" She asked. Flippy looked at her, lovingly.

"Whatever you want, love…" He said. Flaky started tearing up more, remembering how her own mother had named her.

"Emerald…" She choked, happily, and stroking the rich green quills on her daughter's head. She nuzzled her baby, lovingly.

"That's a wonderful name, Flaky…" Flippy said, holding his wife to him. Emerald yawned, nestled in her mom's arms, drifting back to sleep.

"I'm so tired..." She said, yawning just like her daughter.

"Get some sleep then, sweetie." Flippy said. Flaky smiled and cuddled up to her husband, their daughter still in her arms.

"I love you…" She said, happily.

"I love you too…" He returned, and moments later Flaky was asleep in his arms. Flippy himself started nodding off, Giggles and Cuddles leaving them alone and shutting the door behind them. Flippy looked down at the floor, seeing his reflection in a small puddle of blood left over from the operation. It glared at him and his newborn, smiling evilly. Flippy ignored it, resting his head on his wife's, and drifting off into sweet sleep.


End file.
